Matthias Bamert (born July 5, 1942 in Ersigen,

Canton of Bern The canton of Bern or Berne (german: Kanton Bern; rm, Chantun Berna; french: canton de Berne; it, Canton Berna) is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. Its capital city, Bern, is also the ''de facto'' capital of Switzerland. ...

) is a Swiss composer and

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Music * Conductor (music), a person who leads a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra. * ''Conductor'' (album), an album by indie rock band The Comas * Conduction, a type of structured free improvisation ...

. In addition to studies in Switzerland, Bamert studied music in

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it th ...

and in Paris, with

Pierre Boulez Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 1925 – 5 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war Western classical music. Born in Mon ...

and

Karlheinz Stockhausen Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. He is known for his groundb ...

, and their influences can be detected in his own compositions from the 1970s. He spent the years 1965 to 1969 as principal oboist with the Salzburg Mozart Orchestra, but then switched to conducting. Bamert's conducting career began in North America as an apprentice to

George Szell George Szell (; June 7, 1897 – July 30, 1970), originally György Széll, György Endre Szél, or Georg Szell, was a Hungarian-born American conductor and composer. He is widely considered one of the twentieth century's greatest condu ...

and later as Assistant Conductor to

Leopold Stokowski Leopold Anthony Stokowski (18 April 1882 – 13 September 1977) was a British conductor. One of the leading conductors of the early and mid-20th century, he is best known for his long association with the Philadelphia Orchestra and his appearan ...

, and Resident Conductor of the

Cleveland Orchestra The Cleveland Orchestra, based in Cleveland, is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the " Big Five". Founded in 1918 by the pianist and impresario Adella Prentiss Hughes, the orchestra plays most of its concerts at Seve ...

under

Lorin Maazel Lorin Varencove Maazel (, March 6, 1930 – July 13, 2014) was an American conductor, violinist and composer. He began conducting at the age of eight and by 1953 had decided to pursue a career in music. He had established a reputation in th ...

. He was music director of the Swiss Radio Orchestra from 1977 to 1983. Bamert was Principal Guest Conductor of the

Royal Scottish National Orchestra The Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO) ( gd, Orcastra Nàiseanta Rìoghail na h-Alba) is a British orchestra, based in Glasgow, Scotland. It is one of the five national performing arts companies of Scotland. Throughout its history, the Or ...

and Director of the

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated pop ...

contemporary music festival Musica Nova from 1985 to 1990. He has conducted the world premieres of works by composers such as

Toru Takemitsu TORU or Toru may refer to: * TORU, spacecraft system * Toru (given name), Japanese male given name * Toru, Pakistan, village in Mardan District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan * Tõru, village in Kaarma Parish, Saare County, Estonia {{disambig ...

, John Casken,

James MacMillan Sir James Loy MacMillan, (born 16 July 1959) is a Scottish classical composer and conductor. Early life MacMillan was born at Kilwinning, in North Ayrshire, but lived in the East Ayrshire town of Cumnock until 1977. His father is James MacMi ...

and

Wolfgang Rihm Wolfgang Rihm (born 13 March 1952) is a German composer and academic teacher. He is musical director of the Institute of New Music and Media at the University of Music Karlsruhe and has been composer in residence at the Lucerne Festival and the ...

. He was director of the Lucerne Festival from 1992 to 1998. During his Lucerne tenure, a new concert hall was opened, and programme expansions included establishment of a new Easter Festival and a piano festival. Bamert served as principal guest conductor of the

New Zealand Symphony Orchestra The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (NZSO) is a symphony orchestra based in Wellington, New Zealand. The national orchestra of New Zealand, the NZSO is an autonomous Crown entity owned by the Government of New Zealand, per the New Zealand Sympho ...

(NZSO) from 2000 to 2005, chief conductor of the West Australian Symphony Orchestra (WASO) from 2003 to 2006. His initial contract with WASO was through 2007, but dissatisfaction with his tenure caused the orchestra to terminate his contract 18 months early, in May 2006. Bamert was named chief conductor of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra in November 2004, and served in the post from 2005 to 2008. In October 2017, the Sapporo Symphony Orchestra announced the appointment of Bamert as its next chief conductor, effective with the 2018-2019 season, with an initial contract of three seasons. Sapporo Symphony Orchestra announced in February 2020 that they have extended Bamert's tenure through the 2023–2024 season. Bamert has conducted over 60 recordings, including recordings with

Chandos Records Chandos Records is a British independent classical music recording company based in Colchester. It was founded in 1979 by Brian Couzens.Josef Mysliveček Josef Mysliveček (9 March 1737 – 4 February 1781) was a Czech composer who contributed to the formation of late eighteenth-century classicism in music. Mysliveček provided his younger friend Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with significant co ...

Parry PARRY was an early example of a chatbot, implemented in 1972 by psychiatrist Kenneth Colby. History PARRY was written in 1972 by psychiatrist Kenneth Colby, then at Stanford University. While ELIZA was a tongue-in-cheek simulation of a Rog ...

(the complete symphonies) and Frank Martin (5 discs) with the

London Philharmonic Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is one of five permanent symphony orchestras based in London. It was founded by the conductors Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a rival to the existing London Symphony and BBC Sym ...

, the symphonies of Roberto Gerhard with the

BBC Symphony Orchestra The BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC SO) is a British orchestra based in London. Founded in 1930, it was the first permanent salaried orchestra in London, and is the only one of the city's five major symphony orchestras not to be self-governing. T ...

, Dutch composers such as Johannes Verhulst and Cornelis Dopper with the Residentie Orchestra, a series devoted to Leopold Stokowski arrangements, concert music by

Korngold Erich Wolfgang Korngold (May 29, 1897November 29, 1957) was an Austrian-born American composer and conductor. A child prodigy, he became one of the most important and influential composers in Hollywood history. He was a noted pianist and compo ...

and Ernő Dohnányi with the BBC Philharmonic. He has also conducted a series of recordings of

John Field John Field may refer to: *John Field (American football) (1886–1979), American football player and coach *John Field (brigadier) (1899–1974), Australian Army officer *John Field (composer) (1782–1837), Irish composer *John Field (dancer) (192 ...

's compositions for piano and orchestra with Miceál O'Rourke. Among his own compositions, Bamert ''Mantrajana'' was recorded by the Louisville Orchestra by their own record label (the composer conducting) in 1974 (Louisville Orchestra LS 741). Since 1987, Bamert has lived in London.

References

External links

Official homepage of Matthias Bamert
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by Bruce Duffie, October 27, 1995

1974 Cleveland Arts Prize for Music {{DEFAULTSORT:Bamert, Matthias 1942 births Living people People from Emmental District Swiss composers Swiss male composers Swiss conductors (music) Male conductors (music) New Zealand Symphony Orchestra people 20th-century conductors (music) 21st-century conductors (music) 20th-century European male musicians 21st-century Swiss male musicians Harmonia Mundi artists